Sing to Me, Songbird
by HellKaisersAngel
Summary: After the destruction of the prison, Daryl and Beth find themselves back at square one. With no place to call home the two must learn to protect themselves and each other and figure out how to reunite with their group. In order to survive together, they must first learn how to open up and trust each other.
1. Opening

_The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time._

_-**Mark Twain**_


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

"_We gotta go, Beth." _His words played over and over in her head, _"We gotta go." _Her feet kept pounding against the ground as she kept him in her sights, the blood rushing in her ears and making her deaf to everything else around her. Her chest burned as she tried to breathe, her sides stinging with pain that felt like knives.

But she kept running even as the sweat and dirt blurred her vision of Daryl just ahead. Her tears had dried up by now but the vision of the Governor ramming the sword into her father's neck played over and over in her head, twisting her already pained stomach into knots.

Daryl looked over his shoulder to make sure she was still behind him and saw she was starting to fall back.

"Come on, Beth!" he shouted but had no response from her. Instead she slowed to a stop and fell to her hands and knees, gagging and coughing as she gripped her sides, "Shit." he murmured. She was wheezing and coughing as she tried to catch her breath and Daryl knelt down next to her, unscrewing the top off of their now shared water bottle and handing it to her.

"I-I'm good, Daryl. I just n-need to c-catch my...my breath." she managed to say between sobs for air but he only shook his head. He grabbed her chin and lifted her head up, pushing the top of the bottle against her lips and tilting it till warm water started trickling into her mouth. She took a few small sips before pulling away and thanked him as she wiped the water drops on her lips off with the back of her arm.

"Can you keep going?" he asked as she took the water from him, capping it and sliding it back down into her shoulder bag.

"I think so." Her chest was still tight and her lungs still burned like fire but she needed to get away, to get as far away as she possibly could from that prison. She braced her hands on her knees and managed to push herself to her unsteady feet, "Alright, I'm good." But as she went to run her feet stayed put and she stumbled forward with a cry of aggravation.

"You ain't goin' nowhere. We'll stop and rest for a bit so you can regain your strength." he said and sat down a few feet away from her, squinting his eyes from the bright afternoon sun.

"No, I can keep going, Daryl."

"You couldn't move if you tried right now, so we'll stay put. Rest and catch your breath."

"I need to keep going."

"You _need _to sit down and shut up and breathe." he snapped as he set his crossbow down on the ground next to him and stretched his aching legs out in front of him. She shot him a glare but sat back on the ground. She laid back and looked up at the sky, closing her eyes against the glare of the sun and choked down some more air.

"Daryl?" He grunted in response and she turned to look at him, seeing the older man laying back on the ground as well with his dirty arm draped over his eyes to block out the sun, "Daryl, what do we do now? Where do we go?"

"I dunno, Beth." he said softly, "I ain't gotta clue. We didn't expect the damn Governor to show his fuckin' ass and take out our prison."

"Maybe, maybe we should try and find some shelter, or a place we can rifle through and find supplies."

"You think I haven't thought of that? I can't get nowhere if you're here lyin' on the ground. Can't jus' leave you behind."

"I tried to keep goin'. I ain't got the strength right now." She made herself sit up on her elbows and closed her eyes as a gentle breeze swept through the grassy clearing they had stopped in.

"Well you better get your strength back real fast." Daryl said as he moved to his feet quickly, snatching his crossbow off of the ground before grabbing her hand. She was pulled to her feet so fast and her legs were screaming in painful protest but she saw them. Heard them. Another group of disgusting, murderous Walkers. She wanted to cry. She wanted to sit down and cry and scream, demanding to know why God had done this to her, why her father was taken away, why was this happening to the world. But she held it all in and willed herself to move, to follow the man she was now going to be trusting to protect her and keep her safe.

"_What do we do now, daddy?" _she thought as she ran, Daryl holding her wrist firmly as he all but dragged her along behind him.


	3. Chapter 2

_**Chapter Two**_

She stepped carefully through the woods trying to make as little noise as possible, cringing when a twig snapped underneath the weight of her foot or when a bush rustled after it snagged on her clothes. The sun was setting fast and they needed to find shelter for the night, or at least make camp and catch a couple hours of sleep.

Sleep. Oh how wonderful that one word sounded. She wanted to sleep, to dream about a world where the dead stayed put in the ground and the living kept on going. Where she was still surrounded by her family and friends, going to college maybe and singing at church every Sunday with Maggie. She wanted to see her father's smiling face again, knowing he was proud of the young woman she was turning out to be.

"What'chu smilin' about?" Daryl asked, catching Beth off guard and seeing her stumble.

"O-oh, nothing. Jus' thinkin' about the way life was before all this happened." She tucked a stray lock of her nearly white-blonde hair behind her ear and felt her cheeks burn with embarrassment.

"Shouldn't that jus' depress you?" he grumbled as he took the lead through the woods, Beth sighing and shaking her head.

"A little maybe, but, other than that, it's good memories. Keeps me smilin'. I know I'll never see my daddy again, but, at least I have nineteen years of good memories with him." Daryl said nothing but kept on walking and she frowned, picking up her pace to keep up with him, "Should we make a camp for the night while we still have some daylight? I think I still have a pack of crackers we can split in my bag, but that's about it. That and the bottle of water you had and -."

"You ever stop talkin', Beth?" Daryl asked, stopping so quickly to turn around she nearly collided with him.

"I'm sorry..." she said meekly, stepping back and fumbling with her hands.

"I ain't got the patience to sit here and listen to you go on and on about stupid shit, alright?" he snapped and she bit the inside of her cheek, feeling her eyes sting slightly with tears, yet she only nodded in understanding, "We'll set up camp."

"Daryl?" Her voice was soft and even though he was irritated, he couldn't snap at her or yell at her anymore. Instead he looked into her wide blue eyes and rubbed his forehead, trying to fight off and oncoming headache.

"What?" he grumbled and she cleared her throat.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to annoy you. I was jus' tryin' to lift our spirits a bit but I did the opposite."

"It's...it's fine. Don't apologize, I'm jus' in a bad mood. Come on, our camp ain't gonna set itself up." They worked quickly to build their camp up, all the while listening for the familiar groaning and moaning of Walkers to warn them. They surrounded their campsite with piles of dry leaves and sticks that would rustle and snap to pull them out of what little sleep they'd get that night if anything happened to approach them.

"We need a better alarm system." Daryl said as he pushed more leaves into a pile and looked around at their pathetic camp. If they made it through the night without being stumbled upon by the damn Walkers, he'd honestly be surprised. And he hoped beyond all hope that the leaves and sticks would be enough to wake them.

"We'll think of somethin'. In the meantime," she dug through her bag and pulled out the pack of peanut butter crackers and bottle of warm water and smiled wide, "Dinner time! I have one more pack and we can use that in the morning, but other than that, I'm out of food."

"Same. I'll hunt somethin' down for us tomorrow if we need it." As they ate they sat in silence, listening to their surroundings and trying to ignore the rumbles of hunger in their bellies that continued after they finished. Daryl built them a quick but small fire to help keep them warm after finding a nearly destroyed matchbook in one of his pockets that only had two matches left and the two sat as close as they could to feel warmth.

"Do you think this will ever end?" Daryl looked up from the dancing flames across the tiny fire pit at her porcelain pale face illuminated by the soft orange glow of the fire, shrugging when her eyes made contact with his, "I'd like to think it will, and that we'll be here to the very end of it. I want to see society rebuild and pull through."

"I think you're livin' in a fantasy world."

"Why do you think that?"

"Because," he started as he laid down and placed his arms behind his head, "I think this is the end. We ain't gonna pull through this. This is the end of the world, Beth. This ain't no test your God is puttin' us through. We're all gonna die, maybe not right away, but soon. We ain't gonna survive this."

"You don't know that, Daryl. You don't know-."

"Beth, this is it. Jus' accept that fact and move on. We'll survive as long as we can, but I can't protect us without a lil' bit of sleep." She took that as her cue to quit talking so instead she put out the fire and settled down herself. In a few moments she heard his breathing slow and deepen and she lay there listening. Every now and then she would hear a quick rustle in the near distance, but wrote it off as a small animal trying to find shelter or scavange for food. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, releasing it slowly to try and ease her tension. Right now she'd be laying in her bed, probably reading a book she chose from random off of her bookshelf or studying from her new Bible her father had gotten her for her birthday many years before with her name engraved in gold lettering on the front. She'd hear Maggie singing from her room down the hall as she readied herself for bed, or her father rustling around in the kitchen downstairs looking for a late night snack. Right now...

She wasn't sure how long she'd been asleep, a few minutes, or maybe a few hours, but when she opened her tired eyes she realized her mouth was dry and felt as if she had swallowed balls of cotton and her bladder was begging for release. As she sat up slowly her back ached from staying in the same position for so long and her legs had lost feeling. She glanced over at Daryl who had rolled on to his side with his back towards her. She checked her side to make sure her knife was still on her as she stood and started to make her way out of the camp as quietly as she could while her eyes adjusted to the dark till she found a large tree to tuck behind.

She felt bad for getting on Daryl's nerves even though she didn't mean it, she just wanted someone to talk to. She knew their situation was bad, but she was trying anything she could to make it just a little better.

"I should know to be quiet." she murmured as she stood up straight and pulled her pants back up, "I'm the person he knows the least from our group, and it's obvious we ain't got nothin' in common to talk about. I'm jus' a stupid, spoiled lil' girl in his eyes." She stepped out from behind the tree and stifled a scream as she came face to face with the business end of Daryl's crossbow.

"The hell you doin' this far away from the camp?" he demanded as he lowered the crossbow, Beth able to take a breath again to try and slow her racing heart.

"I had to pee, Daryl. I ain't gonna go so close to the camp, it's kinda personal. I tried to be as quiet as I could."

"You ain't too light on your feet. You woke me up."

"I'm sorry, I tried." Even though he was tired and irritated from being woken up and he just wanted to grab her shoulders and shake her because she was the reason, he only released and irritated sigh and shook his head.

"Nah. At least I know our alarm, however shitty it is, worked to wake me up. Come on, let's get some more sleep." he said and placed his hand on her shoulder, walking with her back to their camp. She smiled softly at the touch and reached up, laying her hand on his for a few seconds. She gave his fingers a slight squeeze then put her hands back in her pockets. Though his hand only remained there for a few seconds more, she found comfort in it. Maybe he wasn't too awful mad at her, and maybe, even though as they made it back to the camp and saw a figure stumbling towards them, things were going to be okay even if it was only for a little while.

"I got this one. Just stay put and keep an ear out for more." he said and raised his crossbow.

"Daryl?"

"Yeah."

"Thank you."

"Ain't nothin'."


	4. Chapter 3

_**Chapter Three**_

"Daryl! Look!" Beth smiled wide and laughed out of disbelief as she saw a cabin up ahead. She went to take off for it but Daryl grabbed her arm and pulled her back quickly, her body crashing back against him and nearly knocking the breath out of her.

"Are you tryin' to get us killed? There could be people in there." he hissed into her ear.

"There could be good people."

"You really think so? Don't be so naïve, Beth. All the good people are gone."

"You're still here, ain't you?" she asked as she turned around to face him. His face showed a look or surprise from her words and he reached up, clearing his throat as he scratched it. He went to move past her but she reached up and placed a hand gently on his bicep and he tensed, stopping but not looking over at her, "You're a good person, Daryl Dixon."

"Stay behind me and this time, try to stay light on your feet." With that he pulled his arm free and moved to the edge of the woods, crouching behind a bush and motioning for her to come to him. She slid in behind him and he reached behind him, his hand resting on her leg, "Stay down, don't move, okay?"

"Okay." she whispered with a nod and watched as he eased up and pushed some of the bush aside so he could peek through it. He watched the windows, making sure to stay as still as possible as he tried to see any signs of living bodies, or bodies with the lack of life.

"We'll go in and make this as quick as we can, okay? Take only what we need, leave what ain't absolutely necessary. I don't see anythin' moving around in there but that don't mean nothin'. Stay behind me still, and while we're inside-."

"I know. Keep quiet and keep an ear out. I got this, Daryl." He nodded and stood straight, moving onto the rickety front porch carefully. Suddenly Daryl heard the wood snap and turned around to grab for Beth as the step she was standing on gave away. He jumped forward and grabbed her wrist but his foot found a rotten board and and heard the loud crack. He grit his teeth as he felt the skin on his leg tear and let out a pained growl, pulling Beth towards him and back on her feet.

"Shit are you okay?" she asked as she knelt down next to him, raising his pant leg that was snagged on the busted wood.

"I'm fine." he answered and tried to pull his leg free but she stopped him.

"This looks pretty deep."

"Well it ain't getting' any better stuck in the goddamn front porch." he snapped and started to pull his leg out. He felt warm blood running down his leg and saw her face pale as she looked at it, "It's bad, ain't it."

"It's bad. You're gonna need stitches."

"Great. Where the hell am I supposed to get those?! Ain't nowhere around here I can go to!"

"Daryl maybe I can find something to-"

"You? You gonna fix up my leg? How? You ain't got nothin' to work with! So I'm jus' gonna bleed out here on the porch! That ain't the way I planned on goin' out! But now because you had to go an almost fall off the damn porch and break your fuckin' neck I gotta suffer for it!"

"Daryl shut up!" she shouted and he whipped his head to look around at her, his face red with anger, "Just, please! Be quiet and let me try to help you! I can't do a frickin' damn thing if you are standin' here arguin' and bleedin' to death!"

"Beth..."

"No! Now come on, I'll help you into the house, and I'll look an see if I can find somethin', anythin' to help you out. I ain't gonna let you bleed to death. I will figure somethin' out. Afterward, if you're still pissed, you can yell and shout till you're blue in the face _or _until you attract a whole herd of Walkers. But I am not gonna stand out here and take the blame for an accident so if you wanna keep on yellin' like a fool, you can go argue with a tree because it's gonna give you the same amount of feedback that I will. Now." She moved next to him and helped him to take weight off of his foot, "Can we go in now so I can help you?" He only grunted in response and hobbled into the house, tossing his crossbow onto a stained and ripped up old couch. She helped him to sit down on an old busted recliner and yanked the stuck foot rest out so he could prop his leg up.

"Never seen you so riled up before." he said as she dug through her bag and found an old shirt, wrapping it around his calf and covering the wound.

"I don't tend to." she answered softly and looked up where where she kneeled next to him, "I'm gonna look around. Don't move this leg."

"Sure thing, but first." He pointed to his crossbow and she nodded, picking it up and was surprised by the weight of it.

"How do you carry this thing like it's a feather?" She asked as she laid it down in his lap. He smirked and flexed his arm, Beth finding her heart skip over itself and cleared his throat, "Of course. Duh." She turned and walked into the kitchen, opening the cabinets and smiling as she pulled down a bottle of rum, "Just what I need."

"Hey now, don't you even think about getting' lit before stitchin' my leg up."

"I'm gonna use it to sanitize your wound, don't go to fussin' just yet." she said as she turned to walk back into the livingroom where Daryl was stretched out on the chair but a knife laying in the sink caught her eye. She picked it up and held it up, looking over at Daryl, "What kind of knife is this?"

"That's a boning knife. Ya use it to remove the bones outta bird and fish." he answered and her smile widened.

"That's what I thought." she said happily and tossed the dirty blade back into the sink, "Here, hold this and _don't_ you dare drink it."

"I ain't gonna drink it. Just fix me before I bleed to death." he said as she handed him the bottle of rum, "Hello, Captain." he said as he swished the amber liquid around in the dusty bottle. She disappeared and he popped the lid, smelling the liquid before taking a quick sip and capping it back. He felt the burn in his throat and settle back in the chair, resting his arms behind his head and closing his eyes.

* * *

"Ugh...creepy..." The mounted deer heads on the wall stared back at her as she entered what seemed to be a master bedroom in complete disarray. She started opening drawers in a dresser across the room, trying to find anything she could use to help the man just down the hall. Finding nothing she needed she moved to the nightstands but they were empty except for a few stained and tattered magazines and phonebooks.

"Dammit." she muttered and moved to a door just across the hall. She opened it slowly and smiled when she saw the inside and let out a giggle of delight. She grabbed a fishing pole out from underneath an empty gun rack and inspected the fishing line, seeing it was tough. She picked up a tackle box from the floor and carried both back into the livingroom, stopping in the bedroom and grabbing a t-shirt from a heap of clothes in the floor.

"Daryl, look...what I found...oh." she said as she realized he was sleeping peacefully. She set the stuff down carefully and grabbed a chair from the small dining room table just off to the side of the recliner, "I'm sorry to have to wake you." she whispered and placed a hand gently on his elbow. He jerked awake and reached for his crossbow before his eyes could fully focus.

"Beth? The hell?"

"I'm so sorry, but I didn't want to start without you being awake. It's gonna hurt somethin' fierce, I'll warn you that."

"I can handle it." he said and watched as she picked up his knife. She cut the fishing line from the pole and placed the rod to the side, making a knot in one end of the line. She opened the tackle box and rummaged through it until she found a small enough fishing hook. She tied the other end of the fishing line through it then looked back up at him.

"Beth, I know you can do this." he said, his voice still groggy. She nodded and reached over to unwrap his leg that was still trickling blood.

"Rum." she said softly and he uncapped it, handing it to her, "I'm sorry in advance. Please don't be mad at me." She started to pour rum over the wound and felt his body tense up. She glanced up and saw him biting a clenched fist, her heart dropping as she noticed his pain. She doused the hook in rum quickly then ripped off a piece of the t-shirt and dabbed at the wound. She worked as quickly as she could, her stomach knotting and feeling sick everytime she pierced his skin with the hook. But he needed her to do it and she couldn't stop. When she was finally done she cleaned the stitched up wound with more rum and wrapped it quickly with a piece of the clean t-shirt. When she stood he was laid back in the chair, his face shining with sweat as he took shallow and quick breaths.

"I'm sorry." she whispered softly and reached with the other piece of the shirt to wipe the sweat off of his face. He pushed her hand away and she sighed softly, standing straight and holding her hand out, "There's a big bed in the bedroom down the hall. Come on, you need sleep."

"I'm fine right here."

"Daryl, you need good sleep. Please. I'll help you get down there. Plus, you need to keep that leg propped up. I'll sleep out here and keep a lookout."

"The hell you will. I ain't lettin' you stay out here by yourself. What if somethin' happens, I couldn't get out here in time."

"Then I'll sit in there with you." she offered and he eyed for a few seconds, letting the thought roll around in his head.

"Alright, but don't leave that room without lettin' me know. Even if you are just steppin' out to take a piss." he said and hobbled up to his good foot, Beth helping him to stand.

"Okay, I promise." she said as he rested his arm around her shoulders and leaned against her. They made their way slowly down the tiny hallway of the cabin and into the bedroom where she cleared the bed of clothes quickly.

"You know what?" Daryl asked as she lit a candle by the bedside, "We're inside tonight. I'm gonna take advantage of that." With that he reached down and untied his boots, yanking them off and tossing them onto the floor by the bed, his socks following, "Damn, that feels better. You hear anything, you wake me up before it gets too late."

"Of course. Here," she handed him a couple crackers out of her bag and the water bottle, "Eat, then sleep. And don't hesitate to ask me for anything."

"How about you sit down with me. You need to rest too." She smiled softly as she pushed a pillow underneath his leg, "And...Beth?"

"Yeah?"

"Uhm...thanks for ah, for fixin my leg."

"You're welcome, Daryl." she answered softly and moved to the empty side of the bed, sitting down and stretching her legs out, "Get some sleep, tough guy."

"You ain't gotta tell me twice."


End file.
